Lack of money shuts down home for young mothers

The With Friends Maternal Transitional Living Center is shutting down due to a lack of funds. The home housed pregnant teens and young adults to help them get back on their feet. Here, With Friends executive director Caroline Looney shows an empty playroom at the facility on Keith Drive Monday afternoon, March 18, 2013.

Mike Hensdill/The Gaston Gazette

By Amanda Memrick

Published: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 at 05:04 PM.

Four young women who were either pregnant or had small children had four days to find a new place to stay after With Friends Maternal Transitional Living Program closed down Friday.

The four residents were told March 11 that the transitional home would be closing Friday, said Caroline Looney, executive director of With Friends. The last resident moved out Saturday.

Young mothers ages 19 and 20 each moved into their own places. Another pregnant19-year-old moved back in with family. A 21-year-old mother also moved back in with family.

“It was a very emotional time. If there was ever a doubt for the need of that program, you certainly saw it in their expressions,” Looney said. “They were sad. They were crying.”

Finances forced the closure of the home for expectant and young mothers, Looney said. With Friends opened in 2011 after a fundraising campaign that paid for the building and a one-year operating budget.

The home depended on private donations. The staff tried to find grants to fill in the gaps, but wasn’t successful, Looney said. It cost more than $250,000 annually to operate the program, Looney said.

Four young women who were either pregnant or had small children had four days to find a new place to stay after With Friends Maternal Transitional Living Program closed down Friday.

The four residents were told March 11 that the transitional home would be closing Friday, said Caroline Looney, executive director of With Friends. The last resident moved out Saturday.

Young mothers ages 19 and 20 each moved into their own places. Another pregnant19-year-old moved back in with family. A 21-year-old mother also moved back in with family.

“It was a very emotional time. If there was ever a doubt for the need of that program, you certainly saw it in their expressions,” Looney said. “They were sad. They were crying.”

Finances forced the closure of the home for expectant and young mothers, Looney said. With Friends opened in 2011 after a fundraising campaign that paid for the building and a one-year operating budget.

The home depended on private donations. The staff tried to find grants to fill in the gaps, but wasn’t successful, Looney said. It cost more than $250,000 annually to operate the program, Looney said.

She called the closing temporary but said she wasn’t sure when the program might open again.

The transitional living program housed up to six young women 18 to 22 years old and up to nine babies or toddlers. The program offered counseling, educational training, budget and money management classes and more for up to two years. Of the 30 women who enrolled in the program, 15 graduated and are now on their own. The other 15 women were kicked out of the program for not following the rules or not seeking a job, one of the program’s requirements.

The last four residents were on their way to becoming graduates, Looney said.

“They were all working. One young lady was actually working two jobs,” Looney said. “They went into ‘I have to start planning’ mode.”

Of the three staff members who worked with the program, two are part-timers for With Friends, which also operates an emergency shelter and young men’s transitional living program.

Neither the shelter nor the men’s housing program is in danger of closing, Looney said. The emergency shelter, opened in 1991, can house nine and is at capacity. The transitional living program, opened in 1993, can house 11 and is also at capacity.

Those programs rely on a variety of funds, including federal funds, while the home for pregnant girls and young mothers depended on private donations, Looney said.

You can reach reporter Amanda Memrick at 704-869-1839 or follow @AmandaMemrick on Twitter.